Pope Francis is set to be buried with a heartwarming obituary describing the 266th pontiff as a ‘simple and much-loved shepherd’.

The pontiff, whose death at 88 was announced by the Vatican on Easter Monday, is being buried today in a funeral service attended by the world’s leaders, including US President Donald Trump, Prince William and Sir Keir Starmer.

Up to 500,000 people are expected to gather for the open-air service, some of them camping out in the streets on Friday night after travelling from across the world.

Francis had been lying in state in a simple wooden coffin lined with zinc at the St Peter’s Basilica since Wednesday morning for three days in public view, before the coffin was sealed ahead of his funeral today.

The obituary placed in his coffin described how Francis was the 266th Pope and that he would ‘remain in the heart of the Church and of humanity’.

It added that while in Buenos Aries as Archbishop he was a ‘simple and much-loved shepherd’ who ‘traveled far and wide across the city on the underground and the bus, cooking his own meals because he felt one of the people’.

It closed by saying: ‘Francis has left everyone a wonderful testimony of humanity, life of a saint and universal fatherhood.’